The Law of Scarcity

I caught myself, I have to admit it. I caught myself doing something I dread, despise and dislike. What did I catch myself doing? Good question. I found myself hounding a prospect, with less than optimal interest and spending time nurturing the relationship, trying to rebuild value, stating my case, restating the way things will look with this new solution. Ever found yourself doing this? Be honest.

If you have, then you are like many who don’t follow the 80/20 rule closely – which is to spend 80% of your time on the 20% who are most likely to buy from you. But in chasing the business that is less likely you may find that you spin your wheels more and are less consultative.

The Law of Scarcity: The law of scarcity is simply that when someone perceives something that they desire to be in limited quantity, the perceived value of that thing or person becomes much greater than if were widely available.

What about your time and talent? Do you waste it on those who are less interested because it is more difficult business to win?

Don’t put yourself in that position. If you have a product or service that is valuable, then your time, your intellect, your resources, your product, and your effort should be in short supply (of not then a career change may be in order). Make sure you recognize a few things:

• What their genuine need is
• What their timeline is
• Why they would not buy from you

If you cannot get clarity on all three criteria, then you may want to consider moving on. And that may be tough because we have deals in the pipeline and it may look great, but provide a false sense of security about where your business is coming from.

Play hard to get, at least a little. Not advocating playing games, but, respect your time and talent and share it more fully with those who are seeking what you have. And occasionally blow out your sales funnel and rethink your deals. This will prevent you from stagnating and getting too comfortable. We should never get too comfortable in any sales role. This is the path to the dark side.

To your Success,


The power of the torch !